but republicans warned that efforts to avoid the fiscal cliff are deadlocked. and thousands of egyptians protested against president morsi's new powers and against a draft constitution pushed through by islamists. what do you get when you cross economic news and surf rock? i have a feeling paul solman is involved. hari sreenivasan gives us the answer. >> sreenivasan: our resident financial bard "merle hazard" re-imagines the fiscal cliff debate as a 1960s-style drag race between party leaders. you can watch his animated music video on paul's "making sense" page. we're introducing a new feature- - feed your science diet with "lunch in the lab," a virtual platter of science news, delivered fresh every monday, wednesday and friday. today's daily special-- the mars rover rumors. and on "need to know" tonight, an encore report about an investigation into alleged abuses by u.s. border patrol officers. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> warner: and again to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in the afghanistan conflict. we add